In February 2015, the square footage of leased houses increased and these homes stayed on the market longer. February adds a fifth month to this trend, where homes offered for rent have grown in square footage and time on the market since September 2014.

On average, Abilene homes were empty one full month over the last 12 months, resulting in an average loss to the landlord of $908. In comparison, homes leased in February 2015 were on the market 10 additional days over this average, resulting in an additional loss of $292 per month or lost rent of $1,200 per unit.

This overview utilizes NTREIS data on leased properties in Abilene, Texas. This data provides 13 months of data spanning February 2014 to February 2015, allowing the user to look across these months at changes in rental prices, days on market and inventory available town wide, both by school district and by zip code. The percentage changes calculated in this table compare the current month’s statistics to an average of the last 12-months and the data from the same month in the 2014.

When assessed by zip code and by school district, all February 2015 rentals remained on the market in excess of the prior, 12-month average. Wylie ISD homes rented 14 days faster than homes in AISD. In Wylie ISD, homes leased, on average, in 21 days while AISD homes took 43 days to lease.

February 2015’s average rent of $992 represented a 8.83% increase when compared to the 12-month average of $908. Pet and security deposits were split proxies for quality of rentals, with security deposits increasing by 5.6% and pet deposits falling by 2.4%.

February 2015 units leased totaled 103, which is a leased inventory roughly comparable to February 2014. This static inventory belies by the changes in leased units since February 2014 across Abilene’s zip codes and school districts. Leased inventory diverged between a 108.6% increase in 79601 to a 64.2% decline in 79605. Units leased in Abilene ISD rose 12.7% over there preceding 12-month average while Wylie ISD units leased fell 21.1%.

Abilene rents-per-square-foot rose against the 12-month average to 76¢ per square foot. With the exception of rents in 79603, rents rose in each Abilene zip code. For four months, per-square-foot-rents have declined in 79603 to the current rent per square foot of 58¢ - the worst across the zip codes. Per-square-foot rents in Wylie ISD and Abilene ISD both increased when compared to their 12-month average. Wylie ISD rents are 14¢ higher than AISD rents in February 2015, but it is important to qualify that February’s leased housing stock in Wylie ISD is almost 30 years newer than housing leased in AISD.

According to NTREIS, 103 single family homes were leased February 2015. With 103 units leased at, on average, at 76¢/sqft and sized at 1,428 square feet, these leases are estimated to deliver a February 2015 value of $111,783.84 to the Abilene economy. Considering the coming 12-months and the leases executed during February 2015, these leases potentially account for an $1,3414,406.08 annual contribution to Abilene’s economy.

If you have questions about this data, its assembly or interpretation, please contact us. We welcome the opportunity to discuss how this data might be employed to help you make informed choices regarding investment property in Abilene.